Fall is so here. I had my first candy corn of the season at the Jelly Belly factory on Thursday. Yummy!

I saw Phil Wickham in concert on Friday night. Some very refreshing music.

As I left for work today, Eric yelled at me, “Don’t go to Target.” I wondered why as I looked down at what I was wearing–khaki pants and a red shirt. I seem to always end up at Target dressed like an employee.

Why is it that I’ve never seen Chinese Handcuffs for sale? Are they only available for purchase with tickets?

If you are curious what it is like being a textile designer, hop on over to Fashion Incubator. I have a new article posted there.

I still haven’t made any decisions on the butterfly silk shirt yet. I don’t want to rush it and do something just to do something. I’ll keep you posted.

I always seem to have these grand plans and when one tiny detail doesn’t work out I tend to just stop and walk away. I’m learning to go with the flow and even enjoy these little hiccups that are always coming at me, at people in general.

While in the city my mom and I shopped at Britex. It was quite fun and reminded me of NYC. I did find the sales people on the sale floor quite helpful, and they seemed to get snootier each floor down. I found a gorgeous cotton/linen mix and a pretty silk print that had colors so similar it was like they were made for each other. I figured I’d make pants or a skirt with the cotton/linen and a top like one I’ve made already.

Here’s a close up of the print. It has butterflies on it!

Before starting the sewing project, I thought I should finish my scrapbooking because it was sprawled out all over my workspace. The problem was I ran out of large 12″ by 12″ paper and with my mom here it didn’t look like we’d be heading to a store to get that. I tried to deal without the paper, then I bought a pack a Target with way more paper than I needed and more cost too.

Yesterday after taking mom to the airport I stopped at JoAnn’s. One day after my coupons had expired. I wasn’t feeling so well and wanted to hit the library too so I left just after I had spotted they had their paper on sale and thought about getting some, but decided I didn’t know when I’d get back to Target so I didn’t. We ended up at Target last night because or tv converter box coupon arrived in the mail. If you don’t have cable or satellite, I highly recommend getting the coupon/box. It is amazing. Every channel comes in crystal clear! I messed with the album a bit last night and just packed it all up because I wasn’t feeling it.

After that, I went through my pattern stash to see if I could work with anything I had. Well, my shirt pattern was gone. I “donated” it with an unfinished shirt to Goodwill. And I wasn’t too sure about a skirt pattern I had. So today, I went back to JoAnn’s. They didn’t have any of their patterns on sale and I looked through all of the books but nothing seemed to work with what I had in mind. The print is very sheer so I needed something I could wear a camisole under.

Here’s the shirt I was going to copy.

I thought the ruffle (which I am holding up in the photo) would help camouflage the butterflies a bit so it was a little less juvenile. So I settled on the skirt pattern and plan to draft a pattern using the shirt I have as a guide. I cut the skirt out without too much “help” from the cats and pulled my machine out. I haven’t used it since we moved.

This means I had the foot, but no cord to provide power to the machine. Oops! I think it is with Eric’s stuff in our back room, but we only have one key and it is with Eric. He has a meeting until 9 or so tonight. Looks like I can start drafting the shirt and maybe cutting it out then I can get to sewing tomorrow.

At least I can share a post with pretty and colorful photos, right? Lastly, here’s my new computer desk. I LOVE it!

Peace,

Katy ^_^

Remember that shirt I loved and was working on completing myself with limited luck? Here, here and here. Well the shirt has been making the rounds in the fashion world. It was shown (not in an ad) on the inside of Harper’s Bazaar in the August issue, and it is being worn well by Keira Knightly on the front of Vogue’s September issue. Looks like I wasn’t the only one smitten by the shirt.

In looking at the photos in the magazines, it looks like silk is heavier than what I was using in my tests. Maybe I’ll resurrect this UFO after all!

Peace,

^_^ Katy

There you have it. If you knew how much time and thought and shopping went into that table you’d probably be a lot more excited like I am. Let’s just say we’ve easily spent 5 or 6 hours in the last two days, and 3 separate trips to the store.

Things I love about it. The table is counter height so I can work standing up or sitting down. There are two chairs so Eric can work there with me, if I’m not using the entire table, that is.

I have two ideas of things to make. Which means drafting a pattern and sewing. A pleated shirt and a strapless dress to wear like a jumper over a crisp white button-up. Problem is I don’t have a block for my size and I’m kind of hard to fit. Thank goodness for trial-round muslins.

After seeing it all together, I am already figuring out changes. I think that I need to put some things on the walls. I have a big cork board and want to do something fun and girly like painting alphabet letters or something. Seems like a task to be done when my mom visits in September.

Also, I’m thinking it may be time to purge some things. Or at least use up my stash. I seem to love fabric shopping, but then it hides in a plastic tub. I’m sure the fabrics would much rather be styling on my bod. Another purge would be my rickety old first dress form. It was one of my last pre-marriage splurges, so it is definitely more sentimental than anything. I will definitely sleep on it.

In job news, I finished my application. Eric helped with my IT question–seems they didn’t support the web browser I was using. I have a meet and greet with a representative for a master’s program tomorrow. At any given time, there are 5 or 6 master’s programs I am interested in, so seeing as this is the only one I’ve asked for a tour on I think it is at the top of my list.

Peace,
^_^ Katy

I sewed a stitch or two on the corset–I hope to be well on my way to sewing up the side seams and other finishing touches really soon. I stitched a bit on the unfinished shower curtain.

I also worked on the back for my Balenciaga inspired shirt. I can say that I hate working with silk. I don’t like cutting it. You can see that the back center seam is off kilter–I don’t like ripping it out and re-doing it. I don’t like how it frays. So–I am thinking I’ll actually re-cut the back as one solid piece and work on draping on top of it. Maybe?? Or I can shove it to the back of the closet until I take a draping class.

I really just want to burn it all–but I’m not because silk stinks when you burn it. Darn natural fiber.

Don’t you think that Maud’s butt cheeks hanging out are cute?

Peace,

^_^ Katy

First off, this weekend was AMAZING. I had such a wonderful time and met some of the most interesting and caring women! What fun. More on that later. Thank you Natalie!

The lady in NY found a bone marrow donor! Yippee.

Fundraising is blowing my socks off. Seriously!! I’m so awed at people’s generosity. I will be updating the Fundraising Fun post with additional names. There are still several people that I don’t know at all. Thank you all!

This morning’s run was nuts. I didn’t have to bundle up–but it was so dark. Yay Daylight Savings time. I feared tripping. Instead I managed to trip when the sun had already started to come up. I was sprawled out on a stranger’s driveway with a little scraping on my knee and bruising on the bum–how did I hit both sides? Just as the other knee was healing from the bike debacle two weekends ago. Oi vey.

St. Louis Fashion Week is underway. I plan on attending a few of the events–mainly the free ones!

Much love to y’all and I promise more goodies and photos soon!!

Peace,

^-^

Last night I planned on attending spin at the YMCA. I had a bit of time at home between work and spin. Eric cooked and did dishes–I am so enjoying his housework help! I caught myself running around the house singing “YMCA.” Even as I pulled the door open to the Y, I was still singing it in my head.

Spin class was lots of fun–it was a little less intense than I’m used to, which was a welcomed break. One of the songs the instructor played was “Yellow” by Coldplay. Every time the word “yellow” was said we had to increase the resistance on our bikes and do a climb (ride standing up for you non-spinners). That was fun. The next song that came on was Cake’s “The Distance.” I was immediately taken back in time to high school. I ran cross-country and that was a popular song with our gang. I lip synched as I remembered the words. I’m sure I looked silly, but I couldn’t really see anyone else with my glasses off, so it didn’t bother me. The last song before our cool down was “Eye of the Tiger.” I love music. It totallly motivates me to train faster.

I did take some photos of the top, but they are still in the camera. Tonight’ll be busy with going to the homeless shelter immediately after work, then getting home, packing and taking a few camera lessons from Eric on his Digital SLR. Tomorrow I am going to spin and run at the Y in the am (6am spinning class!) and then head out of town for my Alabama adventure. I will try to post the images before I head out.

There’ll be plenty of updates when I return Sunday night. They’ve given us sneak peaks into what to expect and I’m beyond excited. I’m going to stay at a charming (by the photos on their site) B&B. I am feeling totally spoiled.

Peace,

^-^ Katy

Hey All! I am alive!! No photos today, but I promise them sometime this weekend!! Tomorrow will be busy. I am going to training for volunteering at a women’s homeless shelter. I hope I can handle it. I’m a little nervous–I’m not exactly the most assertive person.
I found the most amazing site yesterday. The Daily Plate. You sign up and it use it to track your calorie intake, and usage. It is awesome! Hopefully it’ll help me get back on the wagon.
Tonight Eric and I worked on creating a duct tape dress form. I was saving to buy a nice dress form, but $500-$1000 is a lot of money if I can make one. It needs a bit of tweaking, but hopefully I’ll have it in working order soon. Here is the information I used to create the dress form. Enjoy!!

What is a girl to do with a bunch of patterns? I have images of vintage garments running through my head. And really awesome Christmas gifts too. For now, they just sit in plastic bags dying to be used again.
Meanwhile, I’ve also managed to organize my projects. Thankfully I work for a catalogue that sells bedding among other things. Bedding bags work wonderfully to contain project.
My sewing helpers Scotch, above, and Sake, below, are helping me out. Looks lovely doesn’t it? It is totally a procrastination method. As long as I move things about back and forth it looks like I’ve done something. Silly Katy.